The most common connection in the construction of a residential or light frame commercial building is the connection of the vertical wall framing studs to the bottom and top horizontal wood plates. This connection is most commonly made by toe nailing at an angle through an end of the stud into the respective top or bottom wood plate.
The problem with the toe nail stud to plate connection is the fact that end splitting of the stud is common; particularly if installation is effected by an unskilled workman but the main problem is that toe nailing creates inadequate resistance to uplift where the structure is subject to earthquake or high wind forces.
Some commercially available metal connectors have been placed on the market, which decrease wood splitting and improve uplift resistance, but these metal connectors do not provide indexing for both single and double plates with the same part of the connector. Moreover, none provide tension resistance in addition to that provided by the fasteners with the same part used for indexing.